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John Davis playing a JAM Waterfall?

D

discoman_rob

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Jun 27, 2017
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#1
I saw this awesome bassist last week in NYC, had an awesome sound. Had to leave in the middle of the set, but got his name from a spectator on the way out....apparently he's a celebrity here on TalkBass!

Anyway, I tried to check out his pedal setup and I only saw two pedals...I think one was a JAM Waterfall (bass edition?), but I don't know what the other one was. Does anyone keep tabs on his current pedal rig?

Rob
 
#2
discoman_rob said:
I saw this awesome bassist last week in NYC, had an awesome sound. Had to leave in the middle of the set, but got his name from a spectator on the way out....apparently he's a celebrity here on TalkBass!

Anyway, I tried to check out his pedal setup and I only saw two pedals...I think one was a JAM Waterfall (bass edition?), but I don't know what the other one was. Does anyone keep tabs on his current pedal rig?

Rob
Click to expand...

John hasn't been around TB for a number of years so I'm not sure what his current setup is. For his gig with Jojo Mayer in Nerve he uses a LOT of effects. Back in the day it was a Boss OC-2, Bugbrand Bugcrusher, Zvex Wooly Mammoth, Subdecay Noisebox, Copilot Orbit, WMD Fatman, Moog LPF, Custom Iron Ether Xerograph, Moog MP 201 and a Line 6 M9.

But I seem to remember him going to more of an all in one multieffect/software approach.

Anyway, for playing as a hired gun (which it sounds like this was) he could have been using any number of pedals.

Some fairly recent Nerve stuff with John doing his bass "synth" thing.

 
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#4
Jared Lash said:
Click to expand...


Very cool! :cool: I was here (Leipzig).:)

Current pedal rig...

12513927_1064472450258343_3573378702870844653_o.jpg


6:00 min...



Edit: old setups...

1.jpg

2.jpg

mmm.jpg

n (2).jpg
 
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#8
Hey guys!

I've started hanging out on here a bit again. Not quite sure why I stopped. I think because my phone app stopped working.

Anyway... yeah, I got to hang out with the guys from JAM pedals in Athens earlier this year, and picked up a few things from them. The waterfall is a totally amazing chorus. I'm putting together a pedal board for non-nerve stuff that will have that on it. Basically my 'NYC' board... such a cliche, but there it is...

The nerve rig got re-designed yet again (this morning). I'll post some pics on instagram in a few days (my board is somewhere between Swiss check in at Terminal 4 JFK and the airplane right now)...

I needed to get all my stuff in one case, because our flying rig needed to go down one case, and I couldn't justify carrying my RJM mastermind in my carryon, or checking a case just for that.... so I've gone to a Boss ES5 for modular switching, and a Source Audio expression pedal (to replace the moog). All fits on my Temple Boards board and is 20kg fully packed.

For that gig you mentioned, it was probably with Aaron Comess? I just had my OC2, Xotic BB, and the Waterfall. If I had a delay, I could do pretty much most of my stuff with just that. Maybe add a bit crusher... and a....

John
 
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#9
JohnDavisNYC said:
Hey guys!

I've started hanging out on here a bit again. Not quite sure why I stopped. I think because my phone app stopped working.

Anyway... yeah, I got to hang out with the guys from JAM pedals in Athens earlier this year, and picked up a few things from them. The waterfall is a totally amazing chorus. I'm putting together a pedal board for non-nerve stuff that will have that on it. Basically my 'NYC' board... such a cliche, but there it is...

The nerve rig got re-designed yet again (this morning). I'll post some pics on instagram in a few days (my board is somewhere between Swiss check in at Terminal 4 JFK and the airplane right now)...

I needed to get all my stuff in one case, because our flying rig needed to go down one case, and I couldn't justify carrying my RJM mastermind in my carryon, or checking a case just for that.... so I've gone to a Boss ES5 for modular switching, and a Source Audio expression pedal (to replace the moog). All fits on my Temple Boards board and is 20kg fully packed.

For that gig you mentioned, it was probably with Aaron Comess? I just had my OC2, Xotic BB, and the Waterfall. If I had a delay, I could do pretty much most of my stuff with just that. Maybe add a bit crusher... and a....

John
Click to expand...

Definitely would love to see your current board.

And Aaron Comess? As in, Spin Doctor's drummer Aaron Comess?

That band got **** on a lot but I always dug that dude's playing. Unless it's somebody else. Then let's forget I mentioned that I ever listened to the Spin Doctors. I have my e-cred to protect after all.
 
#11
JohnDavisNYC said:
Hey guys!

I've started hanging out on here a bit again. Not quite sure why I stopped. I think because my phone app stopped working.

Anyway... yeah, I got to hang out with the guys from JAM pedals in Athens earlier this year, and picked up a few things from them. The waterfall is a totally amazing chorus. I'm putting together a pedal board for non-nerve stuff that will have that on it. Basically my 'NYC' board... such a cliche, but there it is...

The nerve rig got re-designed yet again (this morning). I'll post some pics on instagram in a few days (my board is somewhere between Swiss check in at Terminal 4 JFK and the airplane right now)...

I needed to get all my stuff in one case, because our flying rig needed to go down one case, and I couldn't justify carrying my RJM mastermind in my carryon, or checking a case just for that.... so I've gone to a Boss ES5 for modular switching, and a Source Audio expression pedal (to replace the moog). All fits on my Temple Boards board and is 20kg fully packed.

For that gig you mentioned, it was probably with Aaron Comess? I just had my OC2, Xotic BB, and the Waterfall. If I had a delay, I could do pretty much most of my stuff with just that. Maybe add a bit crusher... and a....

John
Click to expand...
So awesome seeing you on here again, I'm a huge fan of your stuff! Never heard of the JAM Waterfall before, but now that I looked up vids I need one ASAP. Do you have the guitar or bass version? Wondering if there's really much of a difference. Probably going to pick one up next paycheck, making this the fourth pedal I bought directly because of you (OC-2, CoPilotFX Orbit and Bugcrusher). I'm on my second Orbit, the old version with the switch is waaaay better than the newer version I had previously. Look forward to what you record next :)

Also, are you still endorsing Subdecay? I'm never getting rid of my Siren vibrato and Vagabond trem, both invaluable tools for the awesome naturally sloping rate (the Enchant knob on the Siren & the drift knob on the Vagabond) for really cool synth-esque LFO swells.
 
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#12
@Matt Dean we are playing SF in September 20th at the independent! Spread the word...

I haven't really used much subdecay stuff other than the noisebox... but I should check out more stuff!

@Jared Lash yeah, Aaron from spin doctors! He's a great drummer and super nice dude as well. And we live across the street from each other. Haha. Anyway, yeah, played on a bunch of tracks for his new record and doing some gigs here and there.

Re: the modular thing... I got tired of how big and noisy the moog filter was, especially traveling, as if it didn't like the power in a particular room or something it would be a pain in the ass. The xerograph was great, but the CV implementation was too laggy for me. The modular thing works really well for me, although it took a while to really get it together with the switching. I hope that this new setup will stick for quite a few years, and nothing breaks! (My OC2 is back because my Pearl got damaged by the airlines last month... gottafix it)

John
 
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#13
Hey John,

really curious about your modular setup on your pedalboard... What modules have you "loaded"? Do you use some sort of special rack to accommodate the units that also helps with the switching?
I really dig your playing with the Nerve and all the work you do at the Bunker Studios, thank you for that!

A lot of love from Berlin,
Moritz
 
#14
Hey Moritz,

Thanks! I'll be back in Berlin this fall, hopefully you can make it to our show.

I'm using the modular stuff for filtering and also bit crushing. I've got 2x Toppobrillo multimode filters (one for HPF one for LPF) and an Audio Damage Error Box for bit crushing stuff. I've got a HAX in there, but I'm going to swap to the pedal version for some noise related issues... in some countries with different power it can get really noise, and I suspect the 9v pedal version will be more immune to this.

I'm switching them in and out of my signal path currently with a Boss ES5, although until recently that was being handled by an RJM mastermind and some MEGs. CV control was formerly Moog MP201, now Source Audio expression pedal thing. Working good so far!

John
 
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#15
I recently hooked up my Source Audio Reflex to my Moog MF-101 and it's a killer combination - I have my first preset as a standard cut off sweep (w/ slight resonance ramp up) and my second preset as a cool envelope tremolo suggested by another TB user, controlling the cutoff and mix controls simultaneously. The Reflex is just dead simple to program and stupidly usable. Next I want it to control the exp of my orbit and have it interact with the Moog.
 
#17
Thanks a lot for the reply John! Sounds really interesting! What kind of enclosure do you use? Do you have a special input module that has a preamp or is it just going straight into the filters and crushers?
I'm already excited for your show in the fall :)
 
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